Abhayvir Singh
Reflection 1 of 5
“Introduction: Food in Multi-Ethnic Literature”
Authors: Fred L. Gardaphé and Wenying Xu
Gardaphé and Xu introduce a not unlikely, but commonly unnoticed marker of the immigrant experience: food. Past literary works that mention immigrant cuisines are analyzed in order to form a connection between food and assimilation. Literary works going as far back as 1897 and going up to the 1940s reveal that immigrant food was considered not only un-American but “filthy” and “not elegant” (6). The roots of these unsavory comments lie in the concept of nativism, which then leads to “demands for assimilation and inculcation of ethnic inferiority” (6).
The United States being an immigrant country, it’s interesting to observe how nativism takes hold. The same Italian Spaghetti that was once, in 19th century America, considered an inferior and filthy food, is now offered at least once a week in every public school across the nation. A piece from 1938 reads, “Italian immigrants ate a number of items in their native land not commonly regarded as foods in America” (6). Perhaps it was ignorance and lack of exposure that lead one group of people to develop feelings of intense ethnic superiority. As more and more immigrants arrived bringing with them their diverse cuisines, those cuisines went from tenement kitchens to restaurants and then to the homes of “Americans.” In such a way, food that was once considered bizarre became the norm. Similarly, the nativist perspective that once looked down upon the newly arrived and became a cause for their suffering, is now present, to a much lesser degree, in the progeny of those same newly arrived; this time directed towards different people in similar situations as their own ancestors. This ideology of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” is now not a reality in the multi-cultural city of New York.
Assimilation via food choices was part of an effort to drive the newly arrived towards the industrialized, capitalist food markets. Now, however, ethnic supermarkets line every avenue. Major industrialized, capitalist food markets too now sell a variety of ethnic food products. The subtle persistence of the kitchens in the immigrant homes has now brought us to a critical point, where one can freely eat as one wishes. One’s taste preferences do not now determine one’s degree of allegiance to this country. It’s hard to believe that it was not even 80 years ago that a government agency proposed a national cuisine as a means of being more American and patriotic. That would only have applied if immigrants had specifically come here to install their own respective cuisine as the dominant. Literature revolving around food not only conveys the atmosphere of the specific era, but also the larger cultural climate of the time.
Questions:
- Do you think that today’s newly arrived immigrants the same ethnic food shaming that the immigrants of hundreds of years ago face?
- Although assimilation via food is not as explicit as it once was, do you think that immigrants may internally shame themselves for eating ethnic foods, especially in a public setting?
